This invention relates to lacrosse sticks and, in particular, lacrosse stick heads formed with netting.
Lacrosse sticks are used in the sport of lacrosse which has been played for quite some time. Originally and for many years, the sticks for this sport were made from a suitable wood while the netting in the stick head was made and continues to be made from leather thongs intertwined with and connected to smaller thongs, cords or laces or from a nylon mesh. The typical head frame includes a throat portion or shank end portion to which a stick handle is affixed, one or two sidewalls extending from the throat portion and a lip portion or transverse wall that is connected to the outer end of a single sidewall or both outer ends of two sidewalls. The head frame supports the flexible netting which defines a ball pocket, traditionally located in the midsection or mouth area of the head.
In the course of playing the sport of lacrosse, a player who has caught a ball with his stick typically carries the ball in the ball pocket. The throat area is relatively narrow compared to the rest of the head and thus is able to more securely retain the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,756 issued Jun. 2, 1981 to Carl Ahlenfeld et al. describes a fairly typical lacrosse stick head having a pair of sidewalls diverging in a generally V-shaped manner from a throat area, a top portion joining the side walls, and a substantially transverse member extending between the sidewalls in the throat area. The conventional lacing used in this stick head comprises four longitudinally extending rawhide or leather thongs which are connected to the head by means of holes formed in the top or lip portion and holes in the region of the throat. Lacing or cord is intertwined between these thongs and is connected to the sidewalls by holes formed therein.
Recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,434 issued Jul. 30, 1991 to Sports Licensing, Inc. describes a lacrosse stick head including a frame and netting attached thereto. There are two sidewalls that extend from the throat portion and diverge from one another. The opening formed by the frame can be described as generally pear-shaped. The preferred material for this frame is a substantially rigid, light weight plastic, such as nylon or polyurethane. The frame of this patent specification is shown with longitudinally extending ribs or ridges formed on the outside of the sidewalls.
Recent U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,372 issued Jan. 14, 1992 to Sports Licensing, Inc. describes a lacrosse stick head with inwardly extending side rib means on an interior surface of the sidewall. These ribs means are disposed, at least in part, proximate an upper edge of the sidewall and overlay the ball pocket. The preferred rib means are moulded integrally with the sidewalls and extend substantially normal to the interior surfaces of these walls. These known rib means are said to add rigidity to the sidewalls and to provide a ball retention aid because they overlay the netting in the vicinity of the ball pocket.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lacrosse stick head having a frame and a netting wherein the two sidewalls each have a lower section having an inner wall segment, that extends inwardly, and an outer wall segment that extends downwardly. The inner wall segment acts to strengthen and reinforce the sidewall and can, in the preferred version of the stick head, provide other advantages stated hereinafter.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved lacrosse stick head having an improved hole arrangement for securing and adjusting longitudinally extending thongs that form a major part of the netting, these holes being arranged side-by-side along one or both sides of the shank end.